Diary of an Al Bhed Princess
by miamiasma
Summary: Rikku has a story to tell too, and she will, whether anyone is listening or not. Rikku's life, from before the pilgrimage to after it. Aurikku, slow romance. -On hold, very sorry.
1. Diary

Tidus went on and on, telling everyone his story, from when he first saw Sin in Zanarkand, up until the present, where he stopped.

"There was more, right?"

"Yeah, of course there was! Your not the only one with a story, you know?" Tidus wasn't the only one trying to prolong their time here, either. Rikku would help too, though she'd omit the more private parts of her story from the general telling. She pulled out a little journal she'd had most of her life, and kept with her even during the pilgrimage.

"What is that, Rikku?" Yuna asked. _Ha, caught her! Now, to drag this__out as long as possible and give Tidus time to think up a plan..._

"Its my diary. Pops gave it to me when I was little." Yuna leaned over Rikku's shoulder to look at the small book. It was orange and yellow, with little pink hearts drawn over the cover, surrounding some bold words in Al Bhed.

"What does it say?" Yuna asked curiously, no doubt equally glad for the distraction. She'd come closer to tears during Tidus's story than she'd ever admit, and thinking about the future made her feel worse.

Rikku's face colored slightly. She hadn't forgotten how Brother had made fun of her for the title of her diary. "Diary of an Al Bhed Princess..." she whispered quietly.

"What?" Yuna asked. She said it again but Yuna shook her head, not hearing her. Still too quietly.

"Diary of an Al Bhed Princess..." she said a little louder, but not loud enough for Yuna to hear. "Diary of an Al Bhed Princess!" She finally hissed, but this time it was loud enough. Loud enough for what, you ask? Why, for the whole group to hear. Auron snorted, Tidus and Wakka snickered, and Yuna did that "I'm too nice to laugh at stupid people" smile. Lulu stuck up for her though.

"Whats so funny about it? She is a princess of her people. Let her tell her story." Everyone quieted at that, Wakka and Tidus giving her apologetic nods and Auron merely glancing at her. Not by way of apology, no no. Auron was wondering if she'd written down EVERYTHING in that diary, including things about, ahem, himself. Luckily, Rikku didn't read straight from her diary when she started her story. Auron didn't think he could handle hearing a teenagers writing. Too many hearts and usage of the word 'like'.

"Well, lets see. I think I'll start where Tidus's story started. After he fell in the water at Baaj Temple, I..."

AN: No, this story will not be written in first person. No, this story will not be written like a journal. Yes, this story will be a little AU, whenever I can't find a suitable place to stick something. Yes, this story will jump around from past to present and back again. The only way it won't jump is past X and into X-2. This story will mostly be centered around Rikku, and through her point of view, but from time to time it will latch onto Auron. Why? 'Cause this is an Aurikku, thats why. Thats it, please review, thanks! And since this is somewhat in a drabble format, feel free to request an event/theme if you like. 


	2. Whirling Waters

Scenario: The Al Bhed ship is bumped by Sin, sending Rikku's new friend Tidus overboard.

"Tidus! Tidus!" Rikku cried, hanging onto the railing as she watched her new friend fall, bucked from the ship deck when Sin hit them moments earlier. She watched him sink and made to dive off the edge after him, but was caught by the men on deck. She struggled, arms flailing helplessly. Why couldn't they see? She needed to save Tidus!

"Ry Rikku, Sin um yod dnihi!" ("No Rikku, Sin is out there!") Brother cried, rushing over to her and clamping his arms firmly around her middle, dragging her from the railing. Despite the way she joked about

Brother being weak, he was anything but, and she found herself unable to make it back to the edge of the deck. Of course, knowing you can't get free doesn't mean you'll stop trying.

"But Tidus! Brother, we have to help him!" She yelled, trying to wiggle herself out of his grip, but he only tightened it.

"Zi ser miehsn wyh nul ewdih Sin ciefim!" ("We can search for him after Sin leaves!")

And they did, sending two man search partys into the water all around the ship, but there was no sign of the blonde. The others threw flowers in the ocean when they got back to shore, but Rikku had a feeling. She didn't believe Tidus was dead, and she was gonna find him.

"Frana fuimt ra pa?" ("Where would he be?") She said aloud, wondering where she should search first.

"Frana fuimt fru pa?" ("Where would who be?") Her friend Sey had come up behind her on the dock, helping to unload things from the ship onto the Sanubia sands.

"Tidus. E tuh'd drehg ra'c tayt." ("Tidus. I don't think he's dead.") She looked up at her friend hopefully, then back down at the map of Spira she'd laid out on a crate. Sey bent over to look closely at the map, then pointed at Luca, smiling benignly at her friend.

"Oui ouincamv dumt res ra cruimt ku du Luca. Ra'mm pa drana," ("You yourself told him he should go to Luca. He'll be there,") she pumped her arm in the air in an imitation of Rikku. "Tuh'd funno, oui'mm veht res." ("Don't worry, you'll find him.")


	3. Luca Pt 1, The Game

Diary of an Al Bhed Princess-Luca

A full hour had passed since the Al Bhed Psyches had left the salvaging ship and headed off to the arena, closely tailed by an excited Rikku. Al Bhed were usually spared all but verbal abuse from Yevonites when they traveled in large groups like this. The youngest Al Bhed in the bunch barely noticed the names she was called as she scanned the crowd for a tuft of blonde hair. Several times she thought she saw Tidus, but each time the suspect would either turn around to prove her wrong, or be lost in the crowd before she could approach them. She would bounce on her toes, trying to get a better look at any blonde she spotted, then drag her feet and hang her head when she had no success.

Brother effectively shook her out of her mood and put her into a different one by tripping on one of her flowing blue ribbons. Even after she retaliated with a swift kick to his shin, he seemed to be laughing too hard for it to have been an accident, but Rikku didn't mind too much. Or at least, the smile on her face seemed to say that she didn't.

They made it to the arena without incident, then split from the team and took seats on the middle level of the stadium. The first game was the Al Bhed Psyches against the Besaid Aurochs. Neither team was very popular, but Rikku and Brother cheered their hearts out for the Psyches anyway. Halfway through the game an Al Bhed ran up to Brother and whispered furiously into his ear. Brother jumped and yelled something about idiots and ran out of the stadium.

Brother still hadn't returned when the Aurochs made a comeback, winning 2-3 and moving on to the next round. She booed as loud as she could, and was planning on heading down to the lockers to give the Psyches a pep talk until a familiar blonde head appeared in the sphere pool.

"Tidus!" Rikku jumped up from her seat and ran to the railing, leaning on it heavily and yelling again. Her face broke out into a wide smile, grinning madly as the game started and Tidus scored immediately. Soon everyone around her was cheering the Aurochs on, calling for Wakka, the team captain. Tidus left gracefully and Wakka came into the sphere. After that it was all a blur. The Aurochs seemed invigorated and quickly won the game, scoring like mad. The whole team came out into the sphere, Tidus included, and Rikku's grin widened impossibly. She was almost to the stairs on the way to the lockers to see Tidus when screaming erupted in the stands.

"Fiends! Fiends in the sphere pool!" someone screeched, and then there was a stampede of people to the stairs. Rikku was almost pushed down them and trampled in the madness, but saved herself by grabbed a railing and swinging herself back into the seating area, where she was promptly shoved into a chair. All the air left her lungs in less than a second. She clutched her stomach and crouched under the bench she'd hit, waiting it out and gasping for breath while the rest of the crowd fled.

There was a loud crack and Rikku felt stone contact her back, pushing the little air she'd gotten in her lungs back out. She looked above her, eyes widening in fear as a winged fiend bent its long neck towards her and hissed. Rows and rows of sharp teeth showed from behind its thin leathery lips, setting Rikku's heart to a frantic pace. Pulling herself out from under the bench, she ran for the stairs again, grasping her claw and putting it on her arm just in case.

And she was glad for the precaution when two fiend wolves ran up the steps and blocked her only exit.

"Aww, cred."

A horrendous screech from behind sent shivers down Rikku's spine, signaling that the flying fiend had followed her. Mind racing, she searched the stairwell for another possible exit. The rail she'd used to swing herself up before was directly below the flying fiends claws, and she didn't trust her speed _that_ much. The sound of claws on stone grabbed her attention and she whirled around, her left hand held protectively over her head. One of the fiends jumped her, landing on her left arm, neck craning and jaws snapping at her face while its hind claws tore at her thighs and stomach. The other wolf came running up from the side, knocking her legs out from under her. The weight of the first wolf pushed all three of them back and they fell under the fiend hovering above the tier.

Terror gripped her. Three fiends. All focused on her. Was she going to die? What if they ate her alive? She'd never see Home again. What if they'd gotten to Tidus? What if Brother was still in the stadium? This last thought gave her hope. If Brother was around somewhere, he was surely looking for her. Big brother would find her, kill the fiends, and get her back to the ship, safe and sound. All she had to do was hold them off until he showed up. Trying her hardest to keep calm, she shoved the first wolf off of her. The second soon took its place, but Rikku was ready, bringing up her claw and ripping down the wolf's exposed belly. It fell over and twitched for a minute, dead.

A whimper from the opposite side brought her attention back to the other wolf. It was huddled against the wall, and for good reason if she said so herself, which she didn't. At least not out loud. The flying fiend dived and snapped up the tiny (in comparison) wolf. Rikku winced at the horrible crunching noise that followed, standing on shaky legs and hobbling away as fast as she could.

Her blood was leaving her too fast, so she stopped and downed an Al Bhed potion, waiting for a second while her wounds slowly closed. Unfortunately the process was interrupted by a hissing noise down the walkway. _Holy sands, do I have a piece of fiend-nip stuck to my back? Where did all these fiends come from! _

The fiend was lizard like in appearance, slithering towards her, its red reptilian tongue flickering out with a quick hiss. It lunged at her, speeding over the ground, its former slowness obviously an act. She dodged to the banister, out of range of its mouth, but miscalculated a step, or two (but whose counting?) and had to catch herself. The tail took the opportunity and came sweeping around, taking her feet with it and sending Rikku to the ground. Another hiss was her only warning as the tail came again, but this time Rikku rolled to the side, the fiend's heavy tail smashing to the ground where she'd just been crouched.

All her focus had been on the tail, so when the mouth came at her she had no time to dodge. The head retreated, a bloody piece of her sleeve hanging from its mouth. Rikku thanked her stars she was being attacked by the dumbest fiend on Spira, because it started to chew on the bloody fabric thoughtfully. It had missed, but not by much, raking her shoulder and bicep with its cruelly sharp teeth, but it had only gotten her cloths, instead of her flesh. Okay, maybe a little flesh, if that excruciating pain she was feeling was any inclination. She dropped to her knee, her left hand coming up to squeeze around the open wound, hoping to stem at least a little bit of the blood sliding down her arm.

Rikku couldn't move, her vision behind the goggles was starting to fuzz at the edges, and her feet felt numb. She looked down, as if seeing her legs would give them their feeling back. The bottoms of her blue ribbons, which Brother had just playfully tried to step on that morning were drenched in blood, red through and through, along with the white portion of her boots and her whole right side. The material holding her Devastator claw up was starting to slip down her arm, slick with blood. She didn't look like Rikku anymore. Panting, she looked up again in time to see the fiend turn its head back her way.

The fiend figured out he hadn't gotten a piece of girl flesh and spit the fabric out, hissing angrily at his prey. It moved, darting forward once more, this time determined to take her entire head. She weakly put her right arm above her head protectively, claw facing out, the left hand still gripping her shoulder tightly. This was it, the fiend would tear through her arm and right into her head. Abstractly, Rikku wondered if it could swallow her whole, or if it would just bite her head off. Her eyes squeezed shut tightly, bracing herself for the inevitable.

AN: Sorry for the long wait, but I went on a trip and had no computer access until today, so I whipped up this little bit up as fast as possible, then guess what? My grandfather got really sick and my mom had to go take care of him, and took the computer I have all my writings on with her. But wait, that's not all! When I got it back, wouldn't let me long on without kicking me off every Safari(Mac yo) window I had open!! Graaah! I finally got the get go to download firefox(its my mom's computer, and she's strict about downloading) and now it works! Yaaay! So, I'll be uploading a couple chapters at once, hope you all enjoy, please review!


	4. Luca Pt 2, Savior and Destroyer

Diary of an Al Bhed Princess- Luca Part 2

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There was a piercing shriek of pain that seemed to reverberate through her, and a low grunt that Rikku attributed to the sound of her body being swallowed by the fiend. When she opened her eyes, they were filled with red. Every corner of her vision was dark red. She had just started to wonder if everyone who died saw red when the red moved. _Swished_ really. It swished to the side, and she saw black clothed legs crouched on armored boots.

_Wait… Legs and boots? That's what you see when you die? That's messed up!_

She looked up and saw that the legs were attached to a torso, then to a head and arms, but her mind barely registered the head. It was too busy noticing that the arm was attached to a very, _very _large sword, and that that in turn was fused with a fiend head. Then it moved, slicing through the fiend's head and curving down the body until it lay in halves on the ground. Then the sword was heaved back up to rest on a broad pair of shoulders.

Rikku's eyes suddenly took on the big picture, making her head spin a bit. It, or he, was a man. A very tall man, with very wide shoulders, a very broad chest, and a very very big sword. Rikku couldn't help but like all the "very"s in that sentence, especially when she saw his face, or some of his face. It was covered by a white collar that reached just shy of over his nose from her position on the ground, and dark sunglasses hiding what she suspected would be equally dark eyes. The whole picture struck her as epic. Not to mention freaking hot. Just looking at the tall man was making her fingertips tingle. No, wait, that was blood loss…

_Speaking of blood loss, why don't you do something about it instead of staring at this scary dude!_

Her thoughts finally caught up with her body, and vice versa. She let out a groan, swaying on her knee as the pain crashed down on her, effectively wiping any lingering daze out of her system. Her left hand clamped down tighter, causing its own pain, but it had to be done. She reached for the side of her shirt not already drenched in blood and ripped it off just as the man turned towards her. She absentmindedly took a mental picture of herself then, unconsciously guessing what she looked like in the man's eyes. Messy blonde hair piled on her head, dark goggles hiding her swirled eyes, what must have been a smudged and unintelligible _Go Psyches! _written on each cheek(though she thought these had probably been smudged when Brother first painted them on her cheeks.). Then the bloody shirt, now half torn off and held down on her shoulder, an equally soaked weapon that had slid all the way down to her wrist now that she wasn't holding it up, and the rest of her once colorful and fashionable clothing dyed red. She must have been quite the sight.

She forcibly brought her attention back to her arm when the man crouched in front of her. Rikku didn't really want to look him in the eyes, which she realized now was not plural. His glasses had slipped a bit off his nose when he looked down at her, and he'd made no move to fix them, instead reaching forward to hold down the torn piece of her shirt while she fastened the buckles about her arm and shoulder. That's why Rikku loved this outfit, it was cute and useful, the three buckles on each side of her shirt not only good for keeping the shirt tight and sexy, but also a handy tourniquet when she needed one!

"Forgive me, I have no potions." Wow. And Rikku meant WOW. He talked so cool, and he had an awesome voice. It was all deep, and rough, and SEXY.

_Uhh, I didn't think that. _Rikku thought abashed at her treacherous thoughts. _Now, what did he say? Oh, yeah, potions._

"S'okay. Than-" Rikku didn't even have a chance to finish her mumbled thanks before another fiend approached. He rose to his feet and dispatched that one just as easily as the first, but before he returned this time, a frantic Brother made his way onto the platform. He had a bloody knife in hand, and was covered in what looked like wolf fur. As soon as he saw her he ran over, top speed and came to a skidding halt next to her. He didn't miss a beat, grabbing her up fireman style and rushing to the stairs. "Wait, Brother! We can't just leave that guy alone!" she shouted unconsciously in Spiran.

The man in the red coat turned his head ever so slightly, barely paying attention as his massive blade cut through another attacking fiend with little effort. He gave her a "Do you really think I need your help, little girl?" look before turning back to his fight, and then he was gone, blocked from her view by the twists of the stairs. Brother kept running, top speed, down the stairs, only stopping when a tremor rippled around them. Then there was a flashing red light, it streaked past them and hit a fiend flying near the sphere pool. Then another flash, and another. Each time there was a flash, more fiends disappeared, and it continued until there were no more. The sound of released pyreflies filled the stadium for a moment, then it was drowned out by the chanting of a name. For some reason, the mere name sent cold shivers down her already shivering frame. And that's when Rikku finally lost consciousness.

"Maester Seymour!"

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AN: Aaah, special double post for all of you who waited for me to update, complete! How do you like Rikku's first meeting with a mysterious red cloaked man? Tell me in reviews!


	5. Showers of Memories

Forgot to do one before, but here: Disclaimer. I own nothing, seriously, not even a loch of Rikku's hair, or a pint of Auron's sake. I don't make any money from this either. If I did… wouldn't that be a perfect world?

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**Chapter 5:Showers of Memories**

"-do you think you were doing, pulling the ship out of harbor?!" Brother's voice screamed from the hallway in outraged Al Bhed. It had started out as whispers which Rikku could easily sleep through until Brother's voice had bypassed loud and gone straight to "Cid", which Rikku personally knew to be a category of its own.

"We already told you Brother, we captured a summoner and we tried to-"

"Tried to get Rikku killed?! And all just to win a blitzball tournament? I heard all about you threatening the summoner so the Auroch's captain would throw the game. I'm downright ashamed of you, the whole team! Because of you idiots taking off with the ship, I had to leave Rikku, and _she was almost killed!" _The yelling continued, but Rikku was no longer listening. She'd gotten out of bed, gingerly turning her sore neck to get a better look at her shoulder. She guessed one of the Al Bhed healers on the ship had gotten to her, because the rake wounds were sewn up, a vile smelling salve spread across them.

Al Bhed had a different idea of healing than most of Spira, believing that only life threatening wounds were good enough to warrant the use of magic, which came in sparse supply to the Al Bhed people. It had taken three months of training for Rikku to even build up enough magic stamina to be able to _learn _cure, and she still couldn't actually use it. Her people had grown to believe this was because Al Bhed were stronger than their Yevon worshipping kin. If they were strong enough to heal and fight by themselves, then why did they need an overabundance of magic?

Thinking on this, she checked her appearance in her bathroom mirror, wondering on all the other, smaller wounds she'd received. Pulling up her pajama top, Rikku ran her fingers over the flat plane of her stomach, wincing as her fingers brushed the place she'd been clawed by the fiend wolf. She'd used an Al Bhed potion on that one early on, so the shallow cuts had been covered over by skin, effectively stopping the bleeding, but the skin underneath was still tender, healing on the inside. From experience she knew it only took a little stress to reopen the hastily formed new skin, so she was careful and moved slow while undressing herself, trying not to stretch out the skin on her abdomen or shoulder.

Someone had obviously changed her clothes and healed her, but they'd only cleaned up the wounded portions of her, not the rest. Her hair was matted with blood, that of fiends and her own. Rikku shivered at the thought of some of it being saliva as well. "Nasty fiends…" she mumbled to herself, stepping into the shower and turning the nozzle for warm water. The arguing had died down outside, and she could hear the door to her room opening then closing rather quickly. Probably Brother checking on her and then realizing she was in the shower, the door to her private bathroom left hanging open as usual. She heard him yell an exasperated "Riiiikkuuuu!" from outside, imagining him doing his embaressed squiggly dance at the prospect of almost seeing his little sister naked. She laughed, but stopped short at the pain in her gut, settling for a mischievous smile instead.

She had been so scared earlier this morning, but now that she was home, well not quite Home, (but close enough) she felt fine, like everything had happened years past. That was the feeling she always got, as if all the trauma in her life was far away, even when it was near. She thought it might be from habit, that she pushed away all her bad experiences, bottled them up, never to be seen again. At least not by anyone but herself. She still remembered, vividly, the many terrifying events of her relatively short life. Her mother's death, when she was hit in the head with a rock by a Yevonite extremist, the accident where her best friend lost his eye, when Brother hit her with a thunder spell, the time she'd fallen from the high tower of Home…

It was all in her mind, circulating with stark clarity while the new addition was added to her memories. When she stepped out of the shower and dressed, she made sure to find the little diary she had to keep such memories and jot down the fiend attack. She preferred to add happy times, but frightening ones were memories all the same. One thing Rikku never wanted, was to forget. Once her friend had brought up the idea to simply 'just forget' that she'd been a part of the accident where he lost his eye, therefore keeping her from any lingering guilt she may have felt. But Rikku had become outraged at the prospect.

"_I can't forget about it Gippal! It happened, I can never make it un-happen, so I can't forget."_

"_But-" he seemed cowed by her fierce, expression. He was trying to help her, not make her angry._

"_All I can do is my best to move on, not forget. If I forgot it, it could happen all over again. I wouldn't learn anything from it!"_

Later in life it had dawned on Rikku that she hadn't been only thinking about Gippal's accident when she had vowed to never forget, to learn, to be stronger. She had thought of all the times someone had stepped in front of her to take a blow for her. Protected by family, by friends, by her people, _by strangers…_ she thought sulkily, seeing the red cloaked man once again in her minds eye. _No more! This time, I'm going to be the one protecting people. Starting with Tidus…_

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AN: Filling? Anyone for some filling? Sorry, kind of a lame chapter, but I had to get some things said. Next chapter will have some humor (hopefully. I'm not too sure about my comedy) but no action. Aaaand, more Auron! Oh, I spoil you guys…

Thank you everyone who reviewed! Especially -X-.Giggles.-X-, 'cause she reviewed every chapter! Crazy person you… This chapter is for you, because you bombarded me with all this reviewing love.

Gining: Phew! When I saw "mistakes" I thought I'd messed up on the continuity of something, but it was just a spelling error. I'm so relieved. :D I'll try and make sure they don't skip past my defenses again. Hate using spellcheck, its always giving me trouble about blitzball…

And yes, to everyone. Their first meeting _was not _at the Moonflow. Whatever gave you all that idea?


	6. From Behind a Crate

Disclaimer: I don't own it. I really really wished I did, if that counts for anything?

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**Chapter 6:From Behind a Crate**

As soon as Brother looked away, Rikku was off the boat, halfway down the pier, and laughing. By the time he figured out she was no longer on the deck fixing the crane, she was already engulfed in the crowds of Luca. Rikku could have sworn she heard his angry yelling above the din of the crowds, but it didn't stop her from continuing on.

With her goggles down, she didn't get too much trouble from the Yevonites, but she did get pushed a few times, retaliating with loud curses in Al Bhed. She walked for hours, searching every nook and cranny of the big city for Tidus, but she couldn't find him anywhere. _Well, _she thought, heading back towards the harbor, _At least I know he's alive. And he must have friends, since he was in the blitzball tournament._

Rikku wasn't engulfed enough in her thoughts to miss the red swirl of a heavy coat turning a nearby corner. She immediately recognized it as part of her rescuer from earlier that day. Not considering the possible outcomes of her actions, Rikku followed. The only thing going through her mind was finding that man. She didn't know if she wanted to thank him, or just ask him who he was, but she'd figure that out when she caught up with him.

Slight problem with that though. The man was a Yevonite, and a darn big one at that. As Rikku rounded the corner and got a good look at his back, she suddenly remembered how easily he'd dispatched fiends more than 3 times his size. Staring at his giant sword and weighing the chances of asking him who he was and getting away with her head still on her shoulders, Rikku almost missed the fact that the man had stopped and was turning around. _Almost._

She dove behind the nearest cover, a broken barrel. Luckily for her, there were crates, barrels, and piles of junk littering the Luca port. Peeking an eye to the side of the barrel, she just caught a glimpse of him turning back to face forward. Had he noticed her, or was the man just paranoid?

After following him for ten minutes, she guessed it to be a healthy bit of both. He kept turning to look behind him, shaking his head a few times when he found no one behind him, as if shaking off the feeling of being tailed. Rikku thanked her stars that her and Gippal had played at being thieves when they were young, because she was good. At even the slightest tilt of Mr. Big and Red's head, she would duck behind something, keeping herself hidden until her instinct told her it was okay to keep following. She slunk after him quietly, staying as covered as possible as she wove between crates. Finally he stopped checking behind him. Rikku guessed it was because she was so good he'd thought it was all his imagination.

_That's right, no one's stalking you… Wait, why am I stalking him? _She stopped where she was, halfway between an alleyway and the next pile of crates she would use as cover. Thinking about it, she realized that hiding and stalking would just make him more suspicious of her if she popped out and tried to say thanks. What was she supposed to say now? "Hey guy, thanks for saving me earlier. Oh, yeah, that? Well, I was stalking you because I thought you would chop my head off." She imagined the one sided conversation several different ways, but they all seemed to end with her walking away with a missing limb.

There was the sound of running footsteps ahead, and then the most outrageous thing possible happened. The most annoying too.

"Riikku! Kad ouin pidd pylg du dra puyd! Oui haat du veq dra lnyha!" (Get your butt back to the ship! You have to fix the crane!) Brother screamed from where he was standing at the end of the road. Rikku's eyes got wide. Her cover had been blown! "Fryd yna oui tuehk, bmyoehk reta yht caag?" (What are you doing, playing hide and seek?)

"No I'm not playing hide and seek! I was following that guy who saved me to say thank you! You just blew my cover you big id… iot……." Rikku's voice, which had been yelling at one of her highest volumes, suddenly dropped, when she realized she'd said that in standard Spiran, instead of Al Bhed, and that she had blown her own cover way more than Brother had.

Mr. Big and Red didn't even stop, but she could hear him chuckle. "Your welcome." He said over his shoulder, amusement in his gruff voice. He kept walking and turned a corner, leaving her plane of sight. Rikku hung her head. She had somehow expected more than that. And something a lot less embarrassing for that matter. She stomped the rest of the way to where Brother stood, and promptly shoved him off the pier and into the water.

"Stupid Brother…" she mumbled, and walked off in the direction of their ship. There was yelling and spluttering from Brother, and the normal lull of talk surrounding the harbor, but a much louder voice from behind her cut into her thoughts despite all the other noises. It was angry, but it lit a smile on her face, and suddenly she was no longer blushing with embarrassment, but flushed with excitement. It was Tidus' voice.

She hurried back the way she'd come, forgetting all else in her rush to see the friend she'd thought lost. And there he was, standing in the middle of a semi-circle of piled crates, yelling at- Mr. Big and Red! Rikku gasped and veered to the right, stashing herself behind some crates for the billionth time that day before they had a chance to notice her. Still embarrassed, Rikku _really _didn't feel like talking to Tidus with that guy around.

_I'll just wait till he leaves. Tidus can't yell at him forever. _As Rikku waited, she couldn't help but overhear what they were saying. Tidus was blaming him for something, then the man laughed. It was a chilling laugh, full of irony and anger. Then the man spoke, but Rikku couldn't hear him, because another racket of yelling turned her attention to the sopping wet Brother who had just climbed out of the water. He glared daggers at her and started at her. Rikku was afraid he'd come and drag her out of her hiding place, revealing her to the man in red again. Rikku couldn't stand being caught, so she slunk around the semi-circle of crates, waited for the man to turn his back to the road, and made a mad dash for Brother and the shelter of a building.

"I found Tidus! I found him!" she whispered feverishly in Al Bhed before Brother could yell at her for running off. He looked surprised at first, then a little happy.

"Then lets go get him and go back to the ship. That crane still needs to be fixed and-" He was cut off when Tidus started yelling again.

"Well, that big scary guy is with him, and he doesn't seem too happy right now, so I thought we could wait till later to talk to him." She said sheepishly, clasping her hands she put on an angelic smile. "I promise to fix the crane after I talk to him."

"Fine." Brother put on his pouty face wiggled a little, making Rikku wonder where he learned all his weird facial expressions. She stuck her head around the corner just in time to catch them leaving.

"Oh no! I'll be back later Brother, gotta go!" She sped off after them, pulling out the stealth tricks again as she trailed them all the way through Luca. They finally stopped at a high platform that looked over the city. There wasn't much to hide behind, so she had to stay a fair distance away from them. The man in red stopped in front of a group of people. The captain of the Besaid Auroch's was there, along with a woman in all black, kind looking girl with a summoner's staff in hand, and surprisingly enough, a Ronso with a broken horn.

The man in red spoke directly to the small girl, dragging Tidus behind him like a small child.

"Sir Auron!" the whole party seemed awed by the man in red, and Rikku even thought she recognized the name.

"I wish to become your guardian, do you accept?" The man in red, Sir Auron, made it sound like a statement somehow. The blitzballer was shocked enough to ask him if he was serious, and the summoner quickly accepted.

"But… why?" The girl in black spoke for the first time, tilting her head in curiousity.

"I promised Braska." The name caught Rikku's attention. _Braska, as in Uncle Braska? Then does that mean…_

"You promised, my father?" Rikku looked at the young girl in a whole new light as the realization hit. This wasn't any old summoner, this was her cousin Yuna. Her father's sister's daughter. Daughter of the last summoner to die for Spira, Rikku's uncle Braska. She'd only met the man once, but he was so kind, and her father seemed to like him, even though he had been against his sister marrying a Yevonite.

The rest of the conversation was a blur, and she only listened long enough to hear the woman in black, whose name she found to be Lulu, tell Auron the itinerary. They were headed to D'Jose. The information was filed away as she studied her newly found relation. Just looking at her was enough to tell she was a nice girl, and that she became a summoner to help people. Rikku didn't want to see anything happen to a person like that.

Rikku's face scrunched up in determination. Her cousin had become a summoner, a sacrifice for a peaceful Spira. The young, kindly looking girl would give her life for ten years without Sin that she wouldn't even be able to take part in. Rikku wouldn't have it. No cousin of hers was going to lose her life for a bunch of ungrateful Yevonites. She'd finally found her only aunt's only child, there was no way she'd lose her now. And she'd do the only thing she knew how to do to save her cousin. The Al Bhed had already started it, Rikku would merely have to join in.

And she decided, right then and there, what she would do. Rikku would kidnap her cousin.

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AN: Sorry about the long wait. I have no excuses, I'm just lazy… My thanks go out to everyone who reviewed so far. Hope you all like this chapter. I seem to write very badly when I'm trying to write scenes from the actual game, so I'm sorry about all the choppy writing, but I really did try. Review please! Honest critiquing is welcome.


	7. A Farplane Farewell

Disclaimer: If I owned anything to do with Final Fantasy X, Rikku would be the main character, Auron would take his shirt off a lot, and there would be riotous smex all over the game. Sound like a hentai dating game? Wow, what a wonderful idea! They should totally do that!

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**Chapter 7:A Farplane Farewell**

"Recks?"

"Dead."

"Gip-no. Perucki?"

"Dead."

"Cumteany?"

"Dead."

"Sey?"

"Unaccounted for."

Rikku sighed in relief. She'd heard the word 'dead' far too many times in one day. "So, she might still..."

"Its possible lady Rikku, but... there were many bodies that were disfigured by the blasts. It is hard to distinguish one from the other, and nearly impossible to name them. The odds for a soldier in the Vnuhd Meha Cxiyt to survive are very low. The same with the

Crimson Squad, we don't think there were any Al Bhed survivors of that group... Lady Rikku? Are you alright?"

No, she was not "alright". She hadn't wanted to hear any news of the

Crimson Squad. The less she knew about it, the more hope she wielded in her heart that her old friend was alive. Now that the man had told her, it was harder to keep thinking he was just fine, waiting in a medical tent and flirting with the nurses. Her best friend, although most prevalent on her mind, wasn't the only loss. She knew almost all of the Al Bhed, and she was beginning to think that was the exact number of Al Bhed that had died at Mushroom Rock Road.

She wanted to go off in a corner and cry herself to sleep, but she was being called by Brother. Sometimes big brothers had the worst timing, and sometimes, the best. When she went over, the first real smile she'd had all day popped up onto her face. Sitting before Brother, arm wrapped in a sling, was her oldest sibling.

"Keyakku! Its so good to see you." Rikku squealed, wrapping her brother up in a tight hug. He yelped and she quickly released him, muttering an apology. "What happened to your arm?"

"A piece of one of the guns hit it. The main damage was healed, but I need to rest it a while to make sure the muscles heal correctly and I don't re-open the wounds, you know?"

"Ha, just like the time when you and Gi-" Rikku caught herself before she said the name aloud, suddenly feeling very cold inside. She shivered.

"Rikku..." Keyakku placed his unhurt hand on her shoulder, prepared to say a comforting word. Rikku would have given anything for the strength to tell him to stop. If people started telling her they were sorry for her loss, she didn't know what she'd do. She was still trying to believe he was alive, for goodness sake! So when Brother, who had been speaking with a newly arrived messenger, shouted for her attention, she was all ears.

"Yes?" she said, a little too urgently. Keyakku dipped his head, closing his eyes and sighing. The possible loss of their childhood friend Gippal was one that hurt all three of Cid's children, but Rikku most of all. They had been best friends since they were little, making sand-castles on Bikanel. Not to mention all the other loss of life. Friends, family, neighbors, co-workers. They were all dead now.

"Cousin Yuna has just reached DJose. You should cut her off at the Moonflow. I'll wait ahead from there in case you can't stop her." Brother said, a serious look on his face. _Brother, serious?_ Rikku guessed that everyone had been effected by the destruction around them, even Brother. Thinking of that, Rikku realized again who she was, what she had to do. She had to be strong for her people, she was the Al Bhed's princess. She followed Keyakku's example, though instead of replacing her somber attitude with one of command like he did, she smiled. Not a happy, bubbly, joyous smile, that was neither deserved nor wanted on the ruins of a battlefield, but a proud smile. She agreed with Brother, rounding up a few able bodied Al Bhed to join her in a summoner "saving" party, taking a machina with them for good measure.

For some reason, before they'd turned the corner and lost sight of the battlefield tents, Rikku had a sudden, overpowering urge to run back and give Keyakku a big squeeze, despite his protests. She gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek, then said goodbye for the second time, catching up with her comrades. Her chest felt tight when she said goodbye, and she had a horrible sensation in the pit of her stomach when they were out of sight.

She couldn't understand why, but she had the strangest feeling she wouldn't be seeing him again for a very long time.

AN: For a little fun, translate the third Al Bhed name Rikku asks about. Should be funny for any anime geeks who know about Vic Mignona's songs. Please review!


	8. Moonflow Pt 1, The Sneak Attack

Disclaimer: Seriously now! If I owned FFX, Aurikku would be so canon it would hurt!

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**Chapter 8:Moonflow Pt. 1, The Sneak Attack**

The Moonflow. It was morbid kind of beautiful, pyreflies floating above its calm waters. Circling each other in a never ending dance that's purpose Rikku couldn't comprehend.

It had been a day since they first turned onto the Moonflow aboard the salvaging ship she'd 'borrowed' from Brother and Rikku was just starting to get nervous. When one of the two men she'd brought with her to help called that they were just another three hours from the shoopuf crossing station, Rikku hurried to double check the underwater machina she was planning on using to capture her cousin. And she was glad she did, finding a kink in the air hose for the bubble prison they'd added onto the front to keep Yuna in while Rikku fended off her guardians.

They had it all planned out. The ship would stop a ways down river, leaving one man behind while Rikku in the machina, and another Al Bhed swam upriver to the shoopuf station, and waited for the summoner's party to cross. Not even the most experienced guardian (and Rikku knew that _the most _experienced, _legendary _guardian was with them) would expect an attack while on the back of a shoopuf, right? The swimmer would climb up the side of the shoopuf, nab her cousin, drag her down into the bubble, and start heading back to the ship, hopefully with Rikku following. _No no, don't think like that. Not 'hopefully', definitely! _

By the time she had the kink fixed, and the rest of the machina checked out, it was time to lower it into the water. The driver handled the crane while Rikku and the swimmer got into their wetsuits and jumped in. Rikku swam into her spot in the center of the machina and settled in. She knew the ins and outs of this machina, having helped rebuild it, but she never thought she'd be using it to kidnap someone. That made her snort into her mask.

_Didn't think I'd be kidnapping let alone in this hunk of metal._ Glancing at her air tank she remembered there was a time limit on this whole plan. She had five hours of air if she included the two back up tanks that could be attached directly to her suit, nestled in the corner of her little control center with red lettering directly above them. "For emergency use only!" it said in bold Al Bhed type. She'd wrote it herself, so it had her own odd little flourish to it.

The swimmer had already made it out her sight before she turned over the engine and began her slow way upriver. The thing wasn't such a fast mover going against the current. It ended up taking an hour and an half instead to get to the shoopuf station instead of the mere hour they'd estimated, and Rikku was already scheming up ways to make it faster when she got back Home. Maybe her new cousin would help her with it. _Yeah, you know, as long as she's not too pissed about being _kidnapped _and all. Sure Rikku, she'll help… _Well, she could probably get Brother and Keyakku to help her with it anyway. Maybe Yuna would at least want to watch.

The swimmer appeared out of no where when she'd settled herself on a flat walkway of the sunken city, waiting for shoopuf legs to appear at any time. He motioned for her to move to a better position, mouthing to her that there was some kind of hold up at the station, and it would be another hour before the shoopuf came. _Two _hours later, there was a huge splash in the direction of the shore. Rikku turned her tired mechanical body to look, and she could see that the shoopuf had entered the water. She tried to pinch her arm through the suit to wake herself up but the material was too thick and she had to settle for taking a deep breath and clapping her hands a few times.

Tensed and poised, Rikku watched as the shoopuf slowly moved through the water until it was directly in front of her. Then a burst of bubbles blossomed upside down near the side of the giant animal and Rikku lurched forward, tossing the bubble prison around the smaller body that had fallen into the water and quickly turning it on. The swimmer gave her a thumbs up and started swimming downriver with all his strength. Rikku realized why when two more bodies, these much bulkier than the Al Bhed's, dove into the water after the summoner.

"Here we go."

69696969696969669

Saying she got beat would be an understatement. Saying she got her cold, metallic, wet, bruised, ass handed to her would almost cover it though. Those two guardians had meant business! They'd cut the lines to the bubble generator and gotten the summoner out, then the one with a sword (whom Rikku had recognized as Tidus during the fight) dealt a final blow to the engine and core components of her machina. Rikku had a feeling he'd had no idea what he'd hit, especially when it blew up and Tidus turned tail and swam for his life.

Of course Rikku, who was _in _the machina, couldn't get away that fast. She'd already used up all but 30 minutes of her air, so when she dove out of her cockpit and kicked like there was no tomorrow she knew she wouldn't get too far. _If _the blast didn't kill her. When it came, it hurt like hell, and she was fairly certain she'd been stabbed in the arm by some shrapnel, but she was alive. So she kept on kicking, her uninjured arm gripping the top of her air tank tightly as she made her way to the shore. She swam downstream a ways, hoping to get ahead of the summoner's party and buy some time to think on her next move before they showed up.

A continuous stream of blood followed her as she cut through the water, stopping and letting the current help her every once in a while until she made it to shore. She took a deep breath and dropped the air tank, and a few more hard strokes later was crawling up the beach, where she collapsed, gasping for air.

Imagine her shock when she found the man who'd just nearly pounded the cheerfulness out of her standing right in front of her, gaping.

AN: Sorry! So sorry for being so completely totally late in posting this! IIIIII'mmmm sssssooooowwwy! Please forgive my lateness. I have no good excuse. I just found it really hard to write this series for some reason. I started about 3 others, but I just couldn't write anything for this. Again, sorry. I'll try to get back on schedule and write chapters more frequently

Edited the last part after re-watching the Moonflow cutscene. Its more accurate now.


	9. Moonflow Pt 2, Cheers for the Merriest

Disclaimer: Don't own it, any of it. When I do, I'll tell you.

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**Chapter 9:Moonflow Pt. 2, Cheers for the Merriest**

"You're… not dead?"

Ahh, Rikku had forgotten the way with words this man had. It was refreshing, and annoying, seeing as how the only reason she might be dead was because he himself had just beaten her up. She grunted a "Duh" she didn't think he heard and jumped to her feet just as he was about to poke her. Taking off her swim gear, she started with the heavy shoulder pads first, flicking open the clasps and letting it all fall to the sand. Then the tight wetsuit was next, zipping it down in the back. The noises Tidus made as she shimmied out of the tight suit were amusing, to say the least. And if you'd been Rikku, mischievous fifteen year old that she was, you might have dragged out the process for a laugh. Which she did, listening as Tidus tried to stutter something out while watching her.

Finally she stepped out of the oppressive suit and went for her mask, pulling both headgear and goggles off at the same time. Air can be a tasty thing after breathing through a metallic contraption for five hours, so Rikku enjoyed it.

"Whew, thought I was done for back there." She dropped to her hands and knees, feeling the sand beneath her fingertips. Her arm ached a little, but was ignorable for now. She was busy at the moment, she had to give this blonde ditz a reprimand.

"Rikku! You're Rikku!" He shouted, running up to her and kneeling in front of her. The happiness in his voice at realizeing it was her was enough to stop Rikku's reprimand. "Ha-heeey! You're okay! How you been?" Or not. She shook her head in disbelief.

"Terrible." Maybe he'd get the hint…

"Yeah, you don't look so good." _Duh, idiot! At least don't pretend like you don't know what happ- _"What happened?"

"You beat me up, remember?" she jabbed a finger into his face, making him back up again.

"Oh, that machina… That was you?" He asked, surprised. He stood up, helping her to a stand along with him.

"Mmm-hmm. Ow…" She put a hand on her injured arm and squeezed lightly as she spoke. "That really hurt you know. You big meanie!" she mumbled to the side as an afterthought, sighing at her choice of words. She never had been terribly good at insults.

"W-wait!" he said, flaberghasted. "But you attacked us!"

"Nuh-uh!" She cried, put out by his accusation. "Its not exactly what you think." Her high and mighty attitude about this almost sent Tidus into an argument of whose fault it really was, but the man with red hair was on the scene too quickly, breaking it up before it even began.

"Friend of yours?" He asked. He seemed nice enough when he wasn't throwing blitzballs at her head. Now that they were out of the water, Rikku noticed how much taller the man was compared to her and even Tidus. And those blitzball throws had been powerful, to say the least… _Best not to cross this one._

"Uh, you could say that." Tidus pulled his trademark pose, scratching his head nervously. It was at times like these that Rikku doubted his claim to being a former blitzball star in Zanarkand. What star would get anxious over a little question like that? Rikku would break the nervous aura. Her spirit raising cheerfulness was known far and wide. Well, far and wide on Bikanel, probably not past that.

"Pleased to meetcha!" Her bubbly voice turned on full power, Rikku waved her hand in the air and wiggled girlishly. "I'm Rikku."

"Yuna, Lulu, I told you about her, remember?" His voice came out a little more squeaky and anxious than Rikku thought the question warranted. But of course, she didn't fully know the situation. Behind the tall orangey, Rikku saw the woman in black and her cousin again. Yuna was radiant as ever, her smile still in place, even after nearly being kidnapped. Rikku guessed the other woman was Lulu, and looking her up and down was immediately star-struck. The woman looked like everything Rikku wanted to be one day. Cool, collected, a dark beauty contrasting nicely to Yuna's calm, light beauty. That's what Rikku wanted. Not to clash with every room she walked into with her ungraceful trot and mismatched clothing. Maybe she would try something black when she got back Home. "She's the one who helped me before I washed up on Besaid. She's an Al Bhe- beh…"

He stopped himself from announcing her race to the group, something Rikku was thankful to him for afterwards. For now, he cast her a meaningful glance and Rikku got the hint. Al Bhed haters. She wondered which one it was. A sudden image of the red cloaked legendary guardian hit her, and she fervently hoped it wasn't him. Maybe all of them didn't like Al Bheds except for Yuna and Tidus. What would she do then? She scanned the busty lady, Lulu, again. _Is it her?_

"Wow, so you like, owe her your life! What luck meeting here, ya?" Orangey said amiably enough, and Rikku nodded her head happily. "Praise be to Yevon." The reverence in his voice when Wakka bowed and performed the greeting of Yevon was Rikku's first clue to the "Who in Yuna's summoner party hates Al Bhed?" game. She scratched her cheek nervously, wishing she'd kept her goggles on when she'd come out of the water. She wondered if she could slip them on now without anyone being the wiser, but Wakka was talking to her now. "So, uh… Rikku… You look a little beat up. You okay?"

Rikku refrained from blaming it for her current state as she had with Tidus. But she was saved from answering when Lulu spoke up, calling her over to talk. They walked a ways away to talk in private, Rikku claiming it was a 'Girl's Only' conversation. Wakka at first made as if to argue about the matter, but thought better of it when Lulu reaffirmed Rikku's bold claim. Even Wakka didn't want to mess with Ms. Dark Lady.

As soon as they were far enough away, Rikku's hands started up what her Brother used to call the 'hand pedal' motion, flapping her hands in front of her while she talked. If you could of course call what Rikku did next talking, and not speed dating her words. "Well, hi Yuna, guess what? I'm your cousin! Umm, my pop's sister married your dad, then they had you, and my mom had me, and now we're cousins! And-"

"Hello Rikku, I am Lulu." The dark woman cut in, silencing Rikku as sufficiently as a gavel, but she was smiling kindly. "There is no need to be nervous, not all Yevonites hate the Al Bhed Rikku."

"R-right. Thanks. So… well, since I found out you became a summoner, I didn't want you to, you know… the Final Summoning and stuff. So, I decided I'd kidnap you!" Yuna and Lulu both gasped, Rikku just plowing through as if she didn't hear them. "But, that plan kind of fell through, so I'll go for the second best thing. Yuna! I want to be your guardian!" She tried to sound as certain, determined, and forceful as she felt about the whole matter. And it must have worked, because seconds later Yuna had pulled her into a tight hug and was grinning with a new sparkle to her eyes.

"Rikku, I would love for you to be my guardian." She said with that slow, calming voice of hers. She even giggled a bit, then released Rikku and turned to Lulu. "I'll have to ask Sir Auron first though." Rikku's spirits, which had, with the hug, just hit a record high, fell sharply at the mention of the legendary guardian giving the final word on the matter. What if he recognized her from the stadium and thought she would be just as worthless on the pilgramage as she had been there. What if he didn't like Al Bhed either? Her effort would come undone then, and she would have to count of Brother in Macalania to save their cousin. So in other words, she would never see her cousin again if she failed here. Nervousness coursed through her at the finality of her thoughts. _Don't worry, this is just your last chance to save your cousin from a sad doom. No pressure! _She thought to herself. It didn't help in the slightest. Quite the opposite really.

"Sir Auron, I would like Rikku to be my guardian." Yuna said quietly. Rikku hung her head. Her name, which she'd always quite liked, now sounded extremely foolish and childish, and she cursed silently at the fact that she hadn't been named something with more power behind it. He came over to her and Rikku tried to surreptitiously duck her face away from his probing eye as best she could.

"Show me your face." He said solemnly. _Caught._ She thought, but stopped herself from snapping a finger. Rikku raised her face a little, turning it to the side so you could see more cheek and neck than actual face, and squinting her eyes a little. Maybe it would just look like she had sand in them, and not like she was totally obviously trying to hide the telltale swirled pupils and inexperienced youth behind her eyelids. She tried for a near silent "Huh?" but was thwarted. "Look at me."

"Oh… okay." She said, trying to put her usual cheeriness into the words. Her last chance to hide the tell tale signs of her being unfit for the role of guardian had come. So she closed her eyes tight and turned her face up to Auron's. He made a sound that was almost a chuckle and bent closer to her face.

"Open your eyes." His voice sounded half amused, half annoyed, but Rikku clutched to the first like a lifeline. Possibly the legendary guardian wasn't as scary as she'd imagined. She peeked a single eye open slowly, then the next one. "As I thought." And he was back to the solemn voice.

"Umm… No good?" Rikku asked helplessly, clasping her hands in front of her in anticipation of his answer.

"Are you certain?" He caught her off-guard with that one. She hadn't expected him to ask her a question. And she hadn't expected his voice to take on a tone she just couldn't understand. It sounded concerned, and knowing, and downright sad. But Rikku knew the answer to that question before her mind caught up with it.

"One hundred percent!" she said happily, and most of all, certainly. The complete certainty in her words was the only thing that convinced Auron to allow Rikku to join. It had been the set determination flowing through her voice on pure instinct that convinced him. It also convinced him that he should watch this girl closely. He had the sneaking suspicion that this little girl was much more than what others saw. "So, can I?" she asked cutely, smiling up at him and swinging her hips back and forth.

"If Yuna wishes it." He said offhandedly, and Yuna gave a hearty "I do."

And yet, maybe it was an unfounded suspicion… While he thought about it, watching her slyly from the sidelines of their group, the others talked, Wakka cheering on the first Al Bhed guardian without even knowing it. "The more the merrier, ya?"

"Then I'll just have to be the merriest!" she said to Wakka, an ear to ear grin etched across her face. Then she addressed the group at large, "Rikku, at your service."

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AN: All done! I cranked this one out in just an hour or so. I tried to follow the actual scene in this one, and didn't make up much. Since its one of the only canon scenes with interaction between Auron and Rikku, I thought I'd leave it as is to make the rest of the series more plausible. Hope you enjoyed! Please review, it helps my writing and inspires me to write more! :D

Oh, it seems I've broken my word count record! Cheers!


	10. Crashes and Crushes

Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Final Fantasy. If I did, half of the male Final Fantasy characters would be my personal love slaves. Just think of all the yaoi moments you could have if you owned them...

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Chapter 10:Crashes and Crushes

She was sitting on a high cliff top, looking down at the turbulent water below. Rikku had been thinking about her decision to join her cousin on her journey. She just wanted to save her, and when her kidnapping attempt had been foiled, all she could think to do was to join her. If she was on the road with Yuna, then maybe she could stop her along the way. At least, that's what she'd been thinking before she found her way to this cliff overlooking the sea. It was so tall, it reminded her of the high tower at Home. And after her grueling day fighting fiends had left her with a limp and a million or so cuts up her arm, anything looking like Home was what she wanted.

She'd refused the treatment of her arm despite its bleeding in favor of wrapping it up. Not only was she in need of some new scars to prove to Brother and Vydran that she wasn't just sitting on her rump the entire pilgrimage, but Yunie had been panting by the time she'd gotten done healing Wakka's many puncture wounds. So she'd told her cousin it was nothing, poorly bandaged herself, and walked away quickly, _without _a limp. Or at least she hoped no one saw that step or two she half tripped over her tingling foot as she neared the cliff edge where she plopped down. She reasoned she had been far enough away by that time that no one was watching anymore, and thus didn't have to worry about anyone worrying over her.

It had been a good long time of her staring at the roiling waters splashing against the rock wall before there were quiet footsteps approaching her. Rikku turned her head to see the Legendary Guardian himself walk up to her and sit down. He carefully placed his blade at his side, crossing his legs instead of dangling them off the side like Rikku was. She smiled like she always did when making eye contact with someone and wasn't at all surprised to see him ignore her and keep staring out at the sun slowly falling into the sea. Eyes below her the whole time, she hadn't even noticed the lateness of the hour, but now that her senses were back on, she could smell a smoke from a fire, and the hearty smell of cooking meat. He must have come to tell her dinner was ready. _How sweet._

…_Or maybe not. _He just sat there along with her, never turning his face from the horizon, even as the sun disappeared beneath the last wave crest. Rikku could kind of understand. _I mean, I've been sitting here all this time staring at the waves, why can't he sit here for a few minutes and look at the sunset? _They were nearing Guadosalam, and the increasing fiend attacks left little time to think. Not that, after five days of being in his silent company, Rikku thought Auron was being _unusually _quiet. If you thought Rikku was a talkative, loud, bubbly girl with a lot to say, then you could say Auron was her complete opposite in that regard. And they did say that. They being Tidus and Wakka, who liked to comment as much as she did, though what they said made even Rikku wince sometimes. It was usually some terrible comparison to Blitzball. If Rikku never heard the sentence "That's just like in Blitzball!" ever again, it would be too soon. It had been particularly annoying when she'd been trying to explain the process with which she modified weapons. Telling them through gritted teeth that, no, it wasn't just like Blitzball, hadn't seemed to help at all.

But really now… How long could he sit there saying nothing? He'd definitely proven himself to be solitary and didn't seem to need conversation to survive like she did, but this was too much. Silence was all fine and good while she was _alone_. Now that he was there, the need for some sort of noise other than nature was clawing at her. Despite the nice feeling she'd gotten with him just sitting there beside her, and the sureness that when she started talking he would leave, Rikku just couldn't help herself.

"Its really pretty, isn't it?" She said quietly, trying not to break the silence too harshly. There was no response. Had he heard? _Does it matter? He could probably care less what I say._ "It reminds me of home. There's this really high tower where I live, its even called 'The High Tower". For some reason this reminds me of it a whole lot. Its about this tall, only there isn't any water below, its all sand." Rikku knew telling outsiders about the Al Bhed's secret home was a big no-no, but she thought talking about it would be fine. As long as she didn't give away anything about the location, then no one could find it anyway. Not that Yevonites visited Bikanel all that often. "I decided to climb it one day, because I was sure if I got all the way to the top, I'd be able to find-" she stopped herself a little too quickly, and Auron, who had until now been staunchly ignoring the talkative girl, turned to look at her. "To find something important, that I lost…" she ended lamely, but bravely continued on. "So I got all the way to the top of it, where it was rounded. I had to crawl out a window on one of the terraces along the outside of the High Tower and climb the rest of the way on the pipes. I can't remember exactly, but I must have been at least 4 or 5… Well, I guess I knocked off a pipe or two on my way up, and my brother noticed, so he followed me up to the terrace and started shouting for me to come down. Later he told me he was scared out of his mind." Rikku giggled a little, remembering how Keyakku would hug her tightly and whisper to her never to do anything like that again each time he told the story.

"By the time he got up there, I already realized I couldn't find who I was looking for and was ready to go back down. Of course, those pipes Keyakku had seen falling weren't there for my descent, so I slipped and rolled off the tower, fell a good 10 or 12 feet, and got my pants leg caught on an edge. My favorite pair of pants were ruined, but it saved my life. Keyakku was able to get me down from there and took me to a doctor. He told me it was downright miraculous I hadn't been injured, but my Vydran made sure to remedy that as soon as he got me into my room. Ha ha. I can still remember how mad he was when he was beating my little rump red." Rikku laughed and looked back down at the ocean. Auron said nothing, looking back out at the horizon, sunless as it was now.

Rikku hadn't wanted to tell the older man that the stupid stunt had been a childish attempt to find her mother. The High Tower hadn't been high enough to give her a glimpse of her dead mother, though she'd seen around Home for miles upon miles. A single tear slipped past her defenses and ran down her cheek. It had been then that she had realized her mother couldn't be gotten to. She'd understood what her father had meant by "-not here anymore." Quickly rubbing at her face with her arm, she forgot it was injured and yelped as it scraped against her sand paper dry skin.

"Give me your arm." Rikku's head shot up at the gruff voice. It was the first thing he'd said to her all day. "It's bleeding again." She looked down at it, then back at him, and nodded. It was. The bandage must have unraveled when she'd been sitting there. Now that she noticed it, she saw a puddle of blood around where her hand had been positioned behind her, holding up her leaned back weight. It must have been bleeding for a while. Had that been his reason for coming over? By now it was obvious that it wasn't for food, since the meat could still be smelled cooking, and the others had yet to call for them. She held her arm out to him, wiggling herself closer so he could reach it.

Holding it up in one large hand, Auron swiftly undid what was left of her bad wrap job, then slowly and delicately re-wrapped her arm, cutting off the bleeding as soon as he was done. The way he held her arm so gently made Rikku rethink most of what she thought of him up till now. Sure, she knew he was nice enough to help random girls being attacked by fiends in blitzball stadiums, but as for anything else? Nuh-uh, nope, he was a jerk. A big old meanie who didn't care about anything except to push everyone on faster and faster to Yunie's flashy suicide. It hadn't really helped Rikku's happy feelings towards him that she was woken up bright and early every morning. And for the cousin of aforementioned 'suicider', Rikku couldn't help but feel a twisted kind of hate for the Legendary Guardian, who didn't seem to care about anything past Yuna sacrificing herself. He had been pushy, mean, uncaring, didn't talk much, didn't seem to enjoy the flowers she collected for everyone one morning, seemed to think she was an idiot, and oh, did she mention, didn't talk much? Because to Rikku, that was a great offense. Speech was what made the world go 'round.

But now he was throwing off her five days worth of preconceptions. _And he hadn't dropped her arm yet! _Was he going to say something to her? He looked like it. She hoped she wasn't blushing, but she knew she was. Sure, he seemed like a jerk, but a very hot and muscley jerk. "Thanks." Rikku said with a smile, getting a grunt in return. Did she expect anymore? She snorted lightly. _No! This is Auron we're talking about! What, is he supposed to propose his undying love for me, smooch smooch smooch?_ As if to add to her thoughts, Auron stood in a jerky movement, reached down for his sword, then was headed back off to camp. He stopped before too far and spoke, obviously to her.

"It wasn't as serious as I thought this time, but next time," He turned and let his glasses slide a little down his nose, looking her right in the eye. "Tell Yuna. You never know when fiends will attack." She nodded, and he continued on. Rikku, watching, saw him take a seat near Kihmari and begin polishing his sword. It was like his retreat. Anytime Rikku heard him talking, he could soon after be found polishing that infamous sword. A few minutes later and Tidus was yelling for her to come eat. Rikku stood up and stretched, careful to keep weight off of her injured leg, though the dull throb it had before was gone.

_He was worried about me… How nice… _Rikku thought, remembering the feeling of that rough glove on her skin. It had felt a lot better than a worn leather glove on tender skin _should _feel. A light blush later, and Rikku was yelling something incoherent into the wind over the cliff. She'd said it so fast and loud, she couldn't understand it either. The whole party looked up suddenly at her, visibly relaxing when they saw she wasn't being mauled by an angry chimera. The looks she got gave Rikku reason to believe she would be chastised about it later, but for the moment she felt a lot better. Stretching once more, this time with relieved smile, she limped back to the camp, immediately asking Yuna if she felt up to healing yet. She couldn't help a quick glance at Auron, and- _was he smiling?_

Meanwhile, the little Al Bhed's voice reverberated off the cliff and water, and echoed unheard by any nearby humans over the crash of waves and wind. "I _do not _have a crush on a Yevonite!!"

* * *

AN: Ahh, another late chapter. So much for updating every week. That doesn't seem to be working so well for me, so I apologize to anyone who might have been waiting for a new chapter. Don't know where I was coming from, or going with this chapter. I just wanted to explain some of Rikku's life before the Pilgrimage. And what better way to do that then to tell Auron about it? Looking at the word count, seems I've broken another personal record, though I've gotta say most of this was just gibberish. Other than that, I'm having serious doubts about my ability to write romance, so please bear with me through this phase of trial and error on my part. Thanks everyone for reading! Please review if you have time!


	11. Knowledge and Skills

Disclaimer: I doooooo noooooot ooooooown Fiiiiiinaaaaaal Faaaaaantaaaayyyyy Xsususus, oooooor Riiiiiiikkuuuuuuuuuuuuu. Waaaaah! -cries-

**Chapter 11:Knowledge and Skills**

Roasted pig freshly caught, a few wild carrots, and a random onion they'd found in Rikku's pack that was about an hour away from rotting. All mixed up into a surprisingly delicious stew by Lulu. That had been lunch. And lunch had been two, no scratch that, _four _hours ago, and Rikku's feet hurt. She'd already tried having them take breaks for her tired feet over the days she'd been traveling with them, all but the Legendary pain in the rump appearing to agree with her reasoning. At least then, it had just been a part of her plot to slow Yuna's pilgrimage down, but now… Now her feet really did hurt. A lot.

The only good that came out of it was knowledge. She knew four things now. 1. Lulu was a really good cook. 2. She had an onion in her pack for a week and didn't know it. 3. The sole of her right boot was wearing thin. And 4. It was gonna be hard to slow this pilgrimage. Legendary boss from Hell was leading this excursion, and he didn't stop for anything but a direct request from Yuna. Rikku needed a new plan if she was to save her cousin. Well, _another _plan, seeing as how her first one fell through.

Two hours, a hole in her boot, and thirty-two minutes of gathering firewood later, and Rikku hadn't come up with anything new. _Brother had better have a real good plan of kidnapping this summoner. _Rikku thought as she pulled off her previously mentioned 'holey' boot. Lulu had said they would be in Guadosalam by mid-afternoon of the next day, so she wasn't too worried for her foot. What she was, however, worried about, was getting into some dry clothes, and possibly waterproofing her weapon. Why was she all wet, you may ask? She had been attacked by a fiend on her errand, coming out of nowhere to knock all the wood she'd bundled out of her arms and scatter it around. It wasn't all that strong, but it decided to be annoying. To make a short story even shorter, the fiend used a water spell on her. It didn't do much to hurt her, but it soaked into everything she was wearing. Rikku had plowed through it with her claw, taking it out in a single angry hit.

Tidus and Wakka had laughed when she got back to camp, firewood in arm and sopping wet. Wringing the excess water out of her hair into their laps had been her answer to that. Now she just needed some dry clothing. Picking up the small pack she carried with her, she pulled out the shirt and shorts she usually slept in when they made camp like this (and didn't just collapse on the ground), and headed to a newly erected tent. She was glad to be out of the wet clothes, throwing them out of the tent so as not to drip on the bedrolls covering the ground inside. Once in her dry wear, she took a minute to let her hair out of its near constant ponytail and left the tent.

There was small talk around the fire Lulu'd got going while she changed, but Rikku didn't hear anything being discussed that she'd enjoy jumping in on. Wakka and Tidus were always on about Blitzball, and it was only occasionally when they weren't being uber geeks about it that Rikku joined in. Yunie and Lulu were brainstorming about dinner. Apparently they'd found some vegetables growing nearby and they had extra pig's meat left from lunch, so there were more possibilities than usual. Auron and Kihmari sat by the edge of camp, alternating between watching their companions and scanning the surrounding forest for threats.

Everyone seemed happy enough, so Rikku's cheering up skills weren't necessary. _Time ta get to work then!_ She thought with a smile, heading to the outer edges of the groups uneven circle. Auron looked up to watch her when she went past the invisible boundary him and Kihmari seemed to keep around the fire, but she just smiled at him.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. Just gotta do some work and I don't want to bother anyone, you know?" She said, plopping down some feet away from him where she wouldn't be in anyone's way. He grunted in return, which Rikku took to mean "Fine, just don't go any further away." She didn't plan on it, so Rikku just giggled and nodded in assent to his imagined conversation with her. Auron spared an arched eyebrow at her oddity before looking away again. Not that she was entirely sure he wasn't looking at her anymore. It was hard to tell with the dark glasses he always wore. She had to guess where he was looking simply by the angle of his head.

Well, watching or not, she had to get to work. A nice little Water Ward would do the trick, and she'd done them before, so there was little to no chance of explosions. Rikku rummaged in her side pouch for the leftover fish scales she had from fiends in the Moonflow. Pulling the tiny glinting objects out and laying them down on a cloth she had spread on the ground, she then took five more items from the bag: An empty bottle with a cork top, two flasks full of sloshing liquids, a large mouthed glass vial, and a funnel. Dropping the fish scales into the vial, she placed her weapon on the cloth beside it. Cautious as always (lies!) Rikku snapped her goggles over her eyes before opening one of the flasks. It smelled horrible, but it was all part of the job.

Auron kept an eye on the little Al Bhed, worried by her actions. She'd lain out a cloth, gotten strange things out of her pouch that shouldn't have even have fit in the small thing, and now was even lowering her goggles. His muscles instinctively tensed as he watched her pour a horrible smelling, green liquid out of the gray colored flask, then opened the second flask. This one was red, and had a large yellow X on both sides, with a single word written in Al Bhed under each X. As soon as both materials touched, there was instant smoke, thick and off-white. Before he could move to get out of its range, he heard a triumphant "Yes!" from the origin of the smoke, and then some accomplished giggling, quickly followed by light coughing.

Waving her hands in front of herself wildly, she blew the smoke away until it dissipated altogether, yelling "Its fine, its fine!" to the rest of the party as she did so. When the smoke was gone, she noticed she was being stared at by an interested Auron. She tried mimicking his single raised eyebrow and to make it look as stern, chastising, and curious as he did, but failed, going into a fit of giggles as his eyebrow rose higher. She couldn't think why she had been afraid of this man before. _Oh, right, because he slew a couple big bad fiends without a thought and could make Rikku-mince-meat outta me if he wanted. _She thought humorlessly. But she didn't like being scared of anyone, especially since she'd be traveling with him for a while yet. _And what's there to be scared of anyway?__ The other day he even helped me. Whats the point of bandaging someone up if you're just gonna kill them later? _Her cheeks turned a faint pink from remembering her confession to the rocks a few nights ago. Then she remembered the fiend who had snuck into camp minutes later, which Auron had taken out...

_Its not like he ever really _would _make Rikku-mince-meat.__ At least as long as I don't annoy him, right? _She thought back to the time he'd told her no breaks for about the hundreth time, and she'd just continued on pleading. _Well, I just should be careful not to damage any of his stuff… _The memory of stepping on his cloak, tripping over it, and _somehow_ (it was still a mystery to her exactly _how_) ripping a little piece off the bottom, which she had later tried to fix in apology and ruined dinner by getting her thread tangled, tripping over it, and plowing right into the stew-pot. Yuna and Lulu both had to work overtime to heal her and treat her burns, which meant that the boys were left to dinner. Suffice it to say no one ate much that night. _You know, I bet he doesn't even care about any of that. Sure he looked pretty miffed, but he's always grouchy, right? All he cares about is Yunie and getting her to Zanarkand. As long as I don't do anything to… Oh right, the whole reason I'm here is to stop that from happening… _

"Aarh!" She yelled to the sky, seeing that her fears were completely justified. Auron would have her roasting on a spit by tomorrow if he knew she planned to kidnap his summoner.

"Playing pirate?" Tidus had ambled over to her, curious about the smoke that had suddenly engulfed their youngest companion. Wakka was already squatting near her little set-up and staring at the vial.

"Don't say that Tidus. Only Al Bhed are pirates, its insulting to be called that, ya?" Wakka smiled warmly at Rikku as if he had just helped her out, protecting her from thoughtless Tidus. Tidus in turn rolled his eyes and looked at her apologetically. She was torn between outrage at the crack about her people and happiness that Wakka would act so brotherly towards her. She decided to go with the latter, knowing Wakka was clueless and enjoying the idea of being accepted by the other guardians. So instead of jumping the idiot, she just smiled back.

"What is it?" Tidus asked, pointing at the array of objects before her.

"Four fish scales, fiend acid, and my specially made super secret ingredient awesome sauce! It helps to preserve the special properties in the ingredients while being boiled down into weapon rub. It also makes their effect last longer. I came up with the recipe myself. Too much time on my hands I guess." She explained, giggling at the dumbstruck duo in front of her.

"You can do that?" Wakka asked, surprised at his young companion.

"Mhmm." Rikku nodded with a big smile. "Sure can. Want me to fix something up for you too? As long as I have the ingredients… I can do just about anything."

"Yeah my blitzball!"-"sword!" Both excitedly offered up their weapons to her, asking if she could completely outfit them. It took Rikku a long time to calm them down enough to explain that no, she didn't have all the ingredients necessary to equip their weapons with everything possible. By the time she was done writing down some of the things she'd need to fire proof Wakka's blitzball, it was time for dinner.

Over dinner, Yuna and Lulu both asked if she could fix up their weapons as well, so Rikku ended up writing up lists for everyone. It seemed Lulu preferred not getting wet if she could help it, Kihmari's fur was the first thing to catch fire whenever enemies cast Fira, Yuna had a fear of undead creatures, Tidus had trouble holding onto his sword when his fingers were cold, and Wakka just wanted a super upgraded blitzball. Auron was the only one in the party to not ask for something, which wasn't surprising.

What was surprising however, was when Kihmari came up to her after dinner and told him is problem with catching fire and the hardships of growing patches of fur back. If Rikku hadn't known Kihmari was a quiet, stately creature with nothing but protecting Yuna on his mind, she would have thought it sounded rather like complaining. She even thought she'd heard a sigh. Whether the Ronso guardian was capable of complaining aside, she'd promised them all a weapon fix-up once they'd gathered all the required ingredients.

"That means you too." Right before bed, she'd gone over to Auron, still sitting in the same place as he'd been in all night. He looked up briefly in time to catch her winking playfully. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten you. You get a weapons upgrade too, Auron." Then she was bouncing off to her little tent and snuggling up in her blanket, ready for a good night's sleep.

A good night's sleep that she never got.

AN: Okay, who can tell I know nothing about chemicals? If any of you raised your hands, you get free super secret ingredient awesome sauce as a prize. I don't know how alchemy works at all, so I just made up what sounded good in my head. So please don't hurt me all you people who paid attention in Science class. This is what I get, ya know?


	12. It Was a Nightmare

AN: Caution, this chapter details someone hurling. If you're eating, and have a weak stomach, I advise reading this later.

Chapter 12:It was a nightmare.

A woman was screaming. She sounded familiar, oh so familiar. And then Rikku was in a room in her house in Home. There was a sink, a freezing box, a stove, and a brick oven. Rikku wanted to go see what heated the stove, since there was no fire, but when she reached for the knob to turn it on, her stubby little fingers couldn't reach. She was confused at first, but then she was crying. She couldn't reach it, but she wanted it. She wanted it! She fell to the floor, her butt only stinging a little when she landed hard on it. Then her feet were kicking, pounding the ground with her fists… she was throwing a tantrum, and soon someone came to see what was the matter. It was a woman. She was short and thin, with strong arms from lugging babies and children around.

To Rikku, she was beautiful beyond all compare. Rikku had never seen anything that was like her. She was unique, perfect. Everything about her made Rikku want to hug her tight. Soon she calmed down, stopped banging her hands on the floor and reached up to the lady. The woman picked her up gently and asked what was wrong. While Rikku explained, all she could think of was the wonderful sound of that voice. It calmed her immediately, like the sound of ocean waves lapping against the sandy shores of Bikanel. It was soothing and smooth, but strong and firm at the same time. The lovely lady laughed when Rikku finished explaining. It sounded like tinkling glass. Everything about this woman was perfect. Perfect perfect perfect. And Rikku loved her loved her loved her.

Then there was more screaming, and Rikku found herself far away from the kitchen, in the house that she should recognize, with the woman hugging her. She looked all around for the woman, but didn't see her anywhere. All there was; a sickening puddle of blood in the middle of sand. The sand went for miles and miles in all directions, but the puddle seemed to follow her eyes, appearing in the center of the sand each time Rikku's eyes left the previous stain. Her hands flew to her head of a sudden. It hurt! Hurt so badly, the blinding pounding flash of color that flew through her mind at that second. Screaming, red, buildings, shouting people, bloody sand. And then a sickening sight that made her nauseous, unceasingly ill as she hurled her meal into the sand. The blood covered sand.

The most horrible part came next. "RIKKU!" Her name, shouted in a hoarse voice, ever concerned over her. Blood on her, on her hands, not just the sands around her. A final scream, bloodcurdling, sickening, horrifying. It was her fault, her fault, all her fault. And then her nightmare released her.

"Haaaah! Hah… hah, hah…hah……" Rikku woke panting, the image of red sand impaled on her eyes. She felt nauseous and scrambled out of her bedroll to run to some bushes nearby, releasing the contents of her stomach on the foliage. She held in the rest with her hand, the spew spurting through her closed fingers as she headed further away from the little circular camp made up of bedrolls and sleepers. Finally she stopped, far enough away to have privacy while she lost her last meals and more. She fell to her knees and leaned over, bracing herself on her hands as she puked, coughing and spitting the sick out of her and onto the grassy forest floor.

When she was done she stayed still for a while, waiting for the dizziness and lasting remnants of nausea to leave her before crawling over to a tree to lean against its trunk. She was shaking, as most do after retching, and she was very cold. Her skin felt clammy even to her, and she prayed it was only an aftereffect of her nightmare and not the telltale signs of her growing sick. She'd had the dream before, sometimes having these symptoms afterwards, but she never knew for sure whether she would really get sick or not.

When she calmed enough she thought about going back to the group, but when she tried to stand her knees buckled, and she shakily landed back on the ground. Leaning against the tree, she decided to wait until her legs no longer felt like noodles. Hopefully, no one had been awakened by her earlier sounds of retching, but at the same time she wished someone had noticed and would come help her back to camp. She'd just shut her eyes to the night sounds around her when she heard twigs snapping nearby. Then soft, padded footsteps. When she opened her eyes, she already knew who it was. He never slept, so she should have guessed he would notice her.

He picked her up, infinitely strong arms holding her gently. One hand pressed her head to his shoulder, and she gratefully took the headrest, noticing now how her head flopped about. He walked them back to camp, then spread her bedroll out for her before placing her back in it like a delicate sand dollar. Bringing her a spare blanket, no doubt because he could see her still shivering, he tucked her in and started to walk away, but Rikku stopped him.

"Thank you."

"Kihmari glad to help. Little Rikku have nightmares, she should tell someone." He moved again, then hesitated and turned to say more. "Rikku talk to Auron, he help when sick. Auron understand nightmares." Then he went back to his position next to Yuna, staring out at the surrounding forest. Rikku looked over to the red clad guardian, only barely being able to see him in the light of dying embers. For a second Rikku freaked, thinking Kihmari had meant that Auron was awake and had seen her, but when she looked at him, his eyes were closed and he seemed unmoving except for breathing. She sighed, grateful that her little crush hadn't woken to the sounds of her retching. She was also relieved to know he was asleep because it meant he had an excuse for not going to help her. Rikku would feel terrible to know that he had avoided helping her just because she was sick all over the forest floor. Finally, sleep took her over once again.

This time, she had no dreams.

AN: Luckily for everyone, I've had this chapter complete for sometime. So everyone who read my last cliffy and thought "Oh no, she's not going to post for another month!", well, here you go! Hope everyone enjoyed, or well, didn't enjoy, because of poor little Rikku pukin' all over the place…


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